Kit #7 arrived

[Utah-Jay]

Boot Cowl is done

Here is a top and bottom view of the boot cowl extension and the cover plate for the gear. I will have a rubber gasket and a strut sleeve to keep out the CO and exhaust. There will also be a straight 1 1/2” piece of sheet metal that will cover the opening at the rear of the struts so seal it up. Boot Cowl was a long 8 full days challenge
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[Utah-Jay]

Finished up a few things today as I am headed to work for 4 1/2 weeks tomorrow.

Took the panel off and upsized and countersunk the holes for #6 screws. Panel gets shipped to Advanced Flight Systems next week (thanks to my wife) for the panel build.
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Fabricated the cabane closeout
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I finally got the courage ( I was definitely afraid hence the procrastination) to leak test the fuel system. All is good after about 4-5 hours. I will check the one inch mark in the morning to confirm no slow leaks
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[Mark Dickens]

Looking good and moving fast!

[Utah-Jay]

Looking good and moving fast!

Thanks Mark. I worked 37 of 41 days prior to leaving for a month of work travel. I am dedicated to working everyday I am home

[Mark Dickens]

Thanks Mark. I worked 37 or 41 days prior to leaving for a month of work travel. I am dedicated to working everyday I am home

Heck, you may even be faster than Nev!

[Utah-Jay]

Being I am essentially being held hostage in South Africa due to the new variant, I figured I needed to stop procrastinating and bring my EAA builders logbook up to date. To be honest, I did it all today. Luckily I have kept good records and photos.
Here is the link to the builders log:

https://eaabuilderslog.org/?blproject&proj=7pfctcIVW&sid=

So yes, I was working in South Africa when the new variant was discovered and I could not get a flight home for a week. Here are a few cool photos from the past few days The baby Zebras are only a few days old it seams

[Westward_Flyer]

The link wasn’t working for me, might just be me though.

[Utah-Jay]

Westward_Flyer I think I fixed the link

[Westward_Flyer]

Yep, it works now. Thank you, I’ll be following along!

[Utah-Jay]

Got the brake torque plates match drilled and mounted ont the gear legs. The AN6-5 bolts arrive tomorrow, so that is why the two holes on each leg are not all buttoned up. 683E10BC-5077-4327-94B3-05404F825FC1.jpg79357A03-9E64-471F-A16B-96F4FF6B4F33.jpg

Cleaned the temporary grease from the wheel bearings and re-packed the bearings, then mounted the tires on the wheels.
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[Sir Newton]

You have a good work ethic. I try to work 4 hrs every day on my project. May I ask did you purchase a wheel/brake kit? & what size of tires did you decide on?

[Utah-Jay]

Sir Newton Firstly thanks, I really try to work everyday I am home (not working). I did purchase the wheels/brakes from Grove via Mark G. I have the Aero Classic 850’s now, they are super tough and will use them all the way through the phase one and beyond as there will be hundreds of landings on pavement. After I get to my first springtime, 2023 most likely, I will get some 29” bushwheels that will be the summer tires. My home airport as a grass strip in the summer so I can save rubber.

[Utah-Jay]

Still working on the landing gear

Drilled the holes for the cotter pin in the axles

Then….. I pumped ATF in the struts which was a bit messy… I will leave it at messy.

Also started working on my ski storage “box”. I am using Kydex and a heat gun to shape it into a long square shaped compartment. DCDE4406-21B1-4CF1-9F70-06C376BBBEAD.jpgAE6E2E32-DCF2-481B-BB40-6821243D9E86.jpg22313457-7F90-454F-B206-C789950AA546.jpg

[robcaldwell]

I thought that stuff was called Nevdex.

[Utah-Jay]

robcaldwell It is only NevDex in the Southern Hemisphere

[Nev]

Ahh....Kydex. Respect

[Hewko]

Nice!
What thickness Kydex are you using and where are you buying it?

[Utah-Jay]

Nice!
What thickness Kydex are you using and where are you buying it?

I am using 0.028” as it is super light and will be more than durable enough for my needs

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0051WAUTS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Utah-Jay]

Yesterday I started rigging. I started with the Trim and the first 2 sleeve clamps were a real Biatch, but after that it went smoothly. Of course I had 6 sleeve clamps in my hardward package for the 1/16” trim cable and putting in a turnbuckle for fine tuning, I point out the 6 because I was up on a step ladder and you guessed it… I dropped a sleeve. After a good 30-40 minutes on my hands and knees searching I could not find it. FRUSTRATING to say the least as it is a 0.07 cent piece. All went well on the rest. Today I will be working on the elevator.

Tonight is our local EAA chapter meeting and yours truly will be talking about backcountry flying and what goes into the planning. BEE6BB92-B38F-4784-A89E-A4A1E77B0F5B.jpgD2FEB019-1F21-4E88-BB62-66B2A7204DD3.jpgBC9EA551-7823-4F47-947B-97865CC4C9DF.jpg

[Utah-Jay]

Rigging is a slow process, lots of checks and rechecks on cable length. But got the elevator all done and perfectly tensioned. Doing it solo was extra slow as I had to continuously monitor the control stick angle (90* to the fuselage) and the elevator being squared to the horizontal stabilizer.

Did a lot of organizing as well to clean up my mess of bolts and stiff all over the bench
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[Utah-Jay]

Final riveted in the left and right stringers, all stringers are now fully installed
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Removed the skylight and windshield formers (Window former was previously riveted in) so I could paint them Satin Black. All got 2 coats of etching primer and two coats of black satin paint
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Rigged the flap cable to the 1-2 plate, waiting on bushings for the flap pulleys so I can rig from the 1-2 plate to the wing root.
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Spoke to Janina at Oratex about fabric and delivery times.

Moving right along

[Utah-Jay]

Finished the last of the sky light painting. Some decision making to come on the sky light.

Installed the doors and windows to get an idea of how I will cover them and to contemplate the door latch. I think I will go with the “slam shut” latch from Aircraft Spruce
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I have the Ray Allen 401 grips, so needed to trim 1 3/4” off the stick to allow full movement of the stick under (really only up to the bottom) of the panel.
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Removed the temporary bolts in the control stick assembly and final fitted all bolts, castle nuts and cotter pins
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[Utah-Jay]

Today was a milestone day
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Finally got all the needed parts to get the fuselage up on the gear with wheels, brakes and tires.

Finish up the trim system as I lost a clamping sleeve and it took a week to get the $0.07 part

I started messing with the doors, it was a lot of on and off to get the hinge clearance just right. Spent a good couple of hours researching John I want to go about having patroller windows in the doors.
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Re-installed the rear window frames and did some bending to get them aligned with the stringers/longeron for covering.
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I’m the beginning I was using this as a kind of builders log as I was too lazy to really get my EAA Builders log up and running, but I am now updating the builders log daily and it just seems like too much trouble to do it in both places. I posted today as it was a huge day for me getting it on the gear… I could actually roll it around if I wanted

[Schmiege907]

I hope you keep up the updates here I do enjoy seeing them it does sure help a lot as I’m building a companion myself right now.